Harpooned was featured in Games for Windows Magazine.

Harpooned is also in this month’s PC PowerPlay (Australia).

“Most of us are a bit miffed about the whole whaling debacle, so Conor O’Kane created a game to express what he and I’m sure many others feel towards it. The result is an addictive arcade shooter with a biting satirical edge, where players must “research” whales while avoiding the media and Greenpeace. Species Combo!”

Want to know what sort of research the Japanese scientists are doing with all those dead whales? How about attempting to create cow/whale mutant hybrids! Imagine the size of the steaks you’d get from one of those!

Click here to read the abstract of the paper on the “Fertilisability of ovine, bovine or minke whale spermatozoa injected into bovine oocytes” written by Hong Wei and Yutaka Fukui of the Laboratory of Animal Genetics and Reproduction, Obihiro University of Agriculture and Veterinary Medicine, Obihiro, Japan

The conclusion of the experiment: “Blastocyst formation was only observed when bull spermatozoa were used.” Unfortunately they failed to create any viable cow/whale mutant hybrids. I wonder if they’d eat grass or krill?

Thanks to Steve Jackson for the link.

I’ve written a short article on the making of Harpooned, which you can read at GameSetWatch and Gamasutra

Click here to read the article.

Tim Norton writes:

“Bringing together previous discussions here about whaling and computer gaming, have a look at Harpooned.
My personal favourite is the inclusion of protest boats & helicopters - you are instructed not to hurt them, to avoid unwanted legal fees.”

Read the entire post here.

Brandon Sheffield writes:

“The game comes as a reaction to Japan whaling in/near Australian waters. On top of the political element, it’s actually quite fun, with ‘extremely scientific’ multipliers and things. Give it a shot!”

Read the entire article here.

Derek Yu writes:

“Harpooned is a socially conscious shoot ‘em up that puts you at the helm of a Japanese whaling boat. It was created by artist Conor O’Kane as a criticism of the Japanese practice of “scientific whaling.”

The game definitely argues its point well for the most part, and its message is bolstered by the fact that its production is fantastic and the actual gameplay is challenging and fun”

Read the rest of the article here.

Molleindustria writes:

“Non ci vuole molto per rendersi conto che Harpooned è un commento sarcastico sulla caccia alle balene che proprio in queste settimane sta infiammando il dibattito internazionale. In particolare viene presa di mira l’ipocrisia del governo giapponese che quest’anno ha pianificato di uccidere “a scopo di ricerca” circa 1000 balene comprese 50 balenottere comuni, in pericolo di estinzione.”

Read the rest of the article here.

Babelfish can translate Italian to English.

Colin McInnes writes:

“Whaling game uses outrage to spread environmental message.

…what if a game designer wanted you to feel outrage, but also hoped to motivate you to do something about it? That is the case with Harpooned.”

Read the full article and discussion here.

James Cottee writes:

“New whaling sim is bloody great.

There’s a new game out now that perfectly captures the hypocricy of whaling. The ‘message’ is presented in a tongue-in-cheek fashion, and unlike most agitprop games it’s actually fun to play.”

Read the full article here.